BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
Redwood City has received six applications for marijuana businesses to take root in the city, but the Planning Department is refusing to identify the applicants or release the applications until they’re approved.
City Council in April voted to allow delivery centers and nurseries to set up shop in the city. The application process opened in June and closed on Dec. 3. The city said in a newsletter on Tuesday (Dec. 18) that it had received six applications, but gave no details about who had applied or where their businesses would be located.
City spokeswoman Meghan Horrigan told the Post in an email that she can only provide information about the businesses if they have been approved for a permit. Horrigan didn’t explain the city’s reason for withholding the information.
However, the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control identifies those who are seeking alcohol licenses on its website, http://maps.gis.ca.gov/abc/lqs/
In Redwood City, business owners will know by March 1 if their application has been approved, according to Horrigan.
Surprise, neighbors
Neighbors of such a marijuana business would presumably learn about the issuance of a license after it was approved, and won’t have an opportunity to object beforehand.
Applications will be reviewed by multiple departments in the city, and those departments will make a recommendation to Assistant City Manager Alex Khojikian about whether to approve the application.
All marijuana businesses will have to be 600 feet from schools, libraries, day cares, parks or youth centers.
Because of the buffer, businesses are largely limited to the city’s east side.
The businesses would be allowed east of Veterans Boulevard along Seaport Boulevard. The businesses would also be allowed along Veterans Boulevard near the border with San Carlos and along Highway 101 near Marsh Road.
Allowing nurseries and delivery warehouses in the city is part of what officials are calling a “phased approach” to introducing marijuana businesses inside city limits. Eventually, the city might allow marijuana retailers.
Mountain View is the only city in the mid-Peninsula that is accepting applications for pot shops. San Carlos is in a similar boat as Redwood City, and allows all types of marijuana businesses except for pot shops to open up.
